How do breakfast show presenters create a lively and engaging Coursework

How do breakfast show presenters create a lively and engaging atmosphere on their radio shows - Coursework Example Steve Price Breakfast Show on the subject of carbon tax legislation illustrates the key features of spoken language that distinguishes it from written language. The topic of the subject focused on the divisions within the ranks of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), environmental activists, and the public. The breakfast show presenter was Luke Grant. The guest of the breakfast show was Greg Hunt, who plays the role of shadow spokesperson on the matter of climate change. The unique features of spoken language that make it possible for the discussants to explore the different perspectives of the subject matter enhance the discussion between the two. The show is interactional in nature and addresses itself to the subject of environmental conservation policies in Australia. Naturally, the primary target audience is the Australian public. This show captures their interest because of the growing concern on matters of environmental conservation. The different policies taken by the government and other interested parties have both long-term and short-term effects on the general population. The secondary audience includes the political class, the business community, and the wider global citizenry because the subject matter is both global and local in nature. The interactional language employed in the show engages the mind of the audience in the sense that they are able to apply their analytical skills in real-time as the show progresses. They are also able to discern the merits of the arguments by pointing out the logical and illogical parts within the debate. At the beginning of the show, the presenter introduces the subject matter through questions: â€Å"Where are we in terms of this debate? It does look a little like game over, doesn’t it?† (Latest News, 2011). These two questions have the effect of attracting the keen interest and concern of the audience. The questions, in their spoken context, imply the possibility of some form of a crisis. Although wr itten language also employs the use of questions, their import, when assessed in the context of spoken language produces a more dramatic effect. This is because questions are rendered in a regulated volume, pitch, and tone. These qualities are very significant in enhancing the meaning-making process. The questions also prepare the audience for the debate since the rest of the debate becomes an effort to resolve the two questions at the beginning. A second sentence by the presenter is equally significant in the context of the spoken language. Grant interrupts the guest with the sentence, â€Å"Glad to hear that, by the way†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Latest News, 2011). The value of this sentence could be seen both in terms of its interruptive nature and in terms of its ungrammatical form. The sentence interrupts the initial statement made by Hunt. Interruptions are common features in spoken language in the sense that they enable the clarification of matters or change of focus towards the matter s pertinent to the discussion. It is possible to perceive the value of interruptions as a strategic tool for enhancing the rules of logic as understood within the framework of the discussion. The same sentence is grammatically incorrect. In both form and structure, spoken language tends to assume different aspects from written language. This is because

Best Practices Manual for New Supervisors Essay Example for Free

Best Practices Manual for New Supervisors Essay Communication is a multi-faceted term in the realm of management and employee relations. It can apply to the individual’s ability to interact in general terms (supervisor to employee) or literal language skills (e. g. clearly speaking the domestic language). When language is the concern, supervisors must work to ensure all employees can effectively communicate within the organization as well as with the client or customer. In an era of diversity, most organizations employ individuals from all ethnic backgrounds and conduct business with a diverse clientele. Having clients of different cultural backgrounds does not have to pose communication barriers. In fact, with a little research and training, both the international employee and client can enjoy a mutually prosperous relationship. One of the most effective methods in communicating is in understanding. Understanding in the context of internal relations involves the supervisor’s ability to interact with employees at a level that encourages positive behavior and productivity. In terms of clientele, the best strategies and techniques in communicating with clients of different cultures would be know as much as possible about the client’s cultural background. Supervisors must be aware of the uniqueness of individual needs and how they relate to different aspects of life. While adapting to various levels of communication may seem difficult, it is possible and encouraged for the overall success of an organization. Determining Effective Orientation and Training Methods Effective orientation and training methods are similar to recruitment and selection methods, whereby selection tools prove beneficial to managers in determining which applicants are best suited for a particular position. Regardless of the industry, methods recommended include various forms of testing (personality tests, cognitive ability tests, and biographical inventory tests), combined with interviews and evaluations at both a team and individual management level. The most common indicators of training needs are when workers consistently fail to achieve productivity objectives and excessive customer complaints. These issues are best identified through organization analysis, task analysis, and person analysis, including a variety of specific training options. Specialized technology training uses the systems model of training whereby asserting the needs assessment followed by design (objectives, readiness and learning principles). After determining the needs of each individual employee, supervisors must then work toward implementation with on-the-job or other applicable training methods. If faced with a report of increased customer complaints, supervisors must first look at the organization as a whole, investigating areas that seem to be lacking and narrow down results from there. All aspects of the needs assessment can be useful: organizational, task and person analysis. Once the source of the problem has been identified, the next step is to design a training program that will address the issues while teaching employees better customer service skills. While most employees detest mandatory meetings, such gatherings work to encourage employees in maintaining good performance records and motivate low performing employees. Training to increase employee participation in pep meetings would be designed to motivate individual employees through incentives. It is important that employees feel valued and that each is an essential member of the collective team. Positive training methods must also include a level of encouraging traits, allowing each to feel he or she gains valuable knowledge from these meetings versus a feeling of dread. Improving Productivity for Teams In all levels of business, it takes teamwork to achieve the result of productivity, whether the team is part of human resources, production, shipping, or in executive management. All members of an organization must work together to attain a desired result. An effective means of encouraging and improving productivity for teams is in the use of team-based incentives. This type of incentive encourages employees to continue working as a team and thus creating a cooperative environment within the company. To the credit of individual incentives, often times individual employees put forth more effort than others and are not rewarded according to their actions when applied under a team-based incentive program. However, positive aspects of the application of team-based incentives indicate such action works toward achieving the desired result: teamwork. There is no doubt that employee incentives promote better performance. Team-based incentives are more economical in many ways. By allowing employees to work as a team, there is a greater chance of attaining a better productivity level. Offering incentives under this premise offers each employee to work well with others to ensure that final goal is attained, and therefore creating the certainty of receiving such incentives. When team-based incentives are geared toward individual teams, the results are more apt to be to the executive department’s satisfaction. For example, if X department understands that it must be the monthly requirements for Z department to complete its end of month reporting and that there will be no incentives given in the event of missing a specific deadline or goal, each respective department team will be more likely to work harder to achieve the end goal. Team-based incentives also give the appearance of â€Å"fairness† in the type of incentives offered. For example, as referenced through an article by Nancy R. Katz (Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, June 2000), although incentives lead to enhanced motivation, effort, and performance, â€Å"in the real world, however, incentives can have dysfunctional effects† (2000). Katz writes that the most common dysfunctional effect an employee’s expression, â€Å"It’s not fair! † When incentives are contingent on performance, Katz explains that workers give greater concern to the issues of fairness. â€Å"When the distribution of rewards that is perceived as even slightly unfair can lead to significant problems† (Katz 2000). Team-based over incentives provide positive points including economical benefits, encouraging teamwork, giving the feeling of fairness, and reduction of employee absenteeism. Clearly, when employees work together cooperatively the outcome requires an understanding of what makes cooperation work. Such traits include positive interdependence, individual accountability, positive interaction, social skills, and group processing. The discipline structure of these traits includes the growth of group commitment and an increased dedication to the company as a whole. While each employee must be held accountable for his or her own actions, they must also work to meet and promote each others productivity. Team settings also provide a setting whereby each employee has the opportunity to participate in explanations and discussion, problem solving, present ideas and feedback, receive group support and encouragement, and be held accountable by coworkers which leads to an individual putting forth a greater effort for a satisfying end result.

Who Cares about Student Apathy? :: Personal Narrative Essays

Who Cares about Student Apathy? Over the last several months I have been emerged in the issue of voter apathy. This year only 8.3% of students voted in our Student Government elections. This became an important issue to me since I first came to high school. I watched many of my friends show no interest in what was going on around high school. They did not know any of the candidates and they did not seem to care what happened to the organization that carried the most weight in conveying student interests to the administration. From this discourse, I set out this semester with goals in mind. 1) Increase voter turnout in the SGA election 2) Make voting available on-line 3) Increase student interest in SGA Needless to say I failed at all 3 goals. Our voter turnout went down from the previous year, and I was told voting on-line had already been discussed and the administration had decided that it was not practical. It is hard to measure whether I increased interest in student government, however, based on the previous two, I believe interest has not increased. While at this point in my endeavors I became frustrated. That did not stop me. I started simply talking to people I know about voting. I asked them why they thought students had apathy and what they thought might change that. These discussions changed my outlook completely. I was no longer concerned with just getting everyone to the polls because I realized that it took more than that to get people involved. In order for students to vote, they must strongly believe that what is happening affects them personally and that by voting they are not only taking a stand about something, but also they believe their stand will make a difference. Students who are not voting for these reasons probably should not be voting. This was a turning point in my process, and from here I took two new steps. 1) I developed a survey on voting 2) I created an information sheet to publicize the SGA election The SGA election is not highly publized, and I felt it might be beneficial to post sheets telling students how and where to vote. I particularly liked the "one vote" statistics on the information sheet distributed to students. Who Cares about Student Apathy? :: Personal Narrative Essays Who Cares about Student Apathy? Over the last several months I have been emerged in the issue of voter apathy. This year only 8.3% of students voted in our Student Government elections. This became an important issue to me since I first came to high school. I watched many of my friends show no interest in what was going on around high school. They did not know any of the candidates and they did not seem to care what happened to the organization that carried the most weight in conveying student interests to the administration. From this discourse, I set out this semester with goals in mind. 1) Increase voter turnout in the SGA election 2) Make voting available on-line 3) Increase student interest in SGA Needless to say I failed at all 3 goals. Our voter turnout went down from the previous year, and I was told voting on-line had already been discussed and the administration had decided that it was not practical. It is hard to measure whether I increased interest in student government, however, based on the previous two, I believe interest has not increased. While at this point in my endeavors I became frustrated. That did not stop me. I started simply talking to people I know about voting. I asked them why they thought students had apathy and what they thought might change that. These discussions changed my outlook completely. I was no longer concerned with just getting everyone to the polls because I realized that it took more than that to get people involved. In order for students to vote, they must strongly believe that what is happening affects them personally and that by voting they are not only taking a stand about something, but also they believe their stand will make a difference. Students who are not voting for these reasons probably should not be voting. This was a turning point in my process, and from here I took two new steps. 1) I developed a survey on voting 2) I created an information sheet to publicize the SGA election The SGA election is not highly publized, and I felt it might be beneficial to post sheets telling students how and where to vote. I particularly liked the "one vote" statistics on the information sheet distributed to students.

The History of Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt Essay -- Egyptian Kingdom

The History of Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt are both cradles of civilization. Both contributed greatly to human development through their achievements, failures, peoples, scientific accomplishments, philosophies, religions, and contributions. Mesopotamia is a rich flat plain created by deposits from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. At the southern end of this plain developed the first recognizable civilization, in the area known as Sumer. In 3000 B.C. Sumer contained a dozen or more city-states, each ruled by its own king and worshiped its own patron deity. The citizens of these city-states were classified into three classes: nobles and priests, commoners, and slaves. In the center of a Sumerian city usually stood a tower culminating in a temple for the patron god of the city. The Sumerians believed that this patron god owned the whole city. The Geography of this city helped a lot with the trade, and led to mathematics as well. The Sumerians developed a precise system of mathematical notation called the sexagesimal, in which the number sixty is the main element. We even use this system in our world today! The Sumerian’ chief contribution to later civilizations was writing, even though their script was pictogra phic. Through these pictographic scripts historians found a long narrative known as the Epic of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is a great hero and ruler who sets out to recover cedar from northern lands. He travels with his companion Enkidu, who is killed by the storm god, Enlil. Mourning the loss of his companion and confronted by death himself, Gilgamesh travels the world in search of eternal life. He ends up finding the plant of eternal youth, but a serpent swallows it while he is bathing. The epic ends with his death and funeral. The Sumerians believed that the gods created people to be their slaves. The first Great Warlord came from the region of Akkad, an area north of Babylon. His name was Sargon, and he conquered all of Mesopotamia. Sargon was from a group of people called the Semites. The only difference between the Semites and the Sumerians were linguistics. Semites spoke many different languages like Akkadian, Hebrew, and Canaanite. The Sumerian people adapted the Akkadian language. Sargon and his successors ruled from Akkad until 2230 B.C, when internal disagreement ended the Akkadian... ... King Tutankhamen moved the capital back to Thebes and favored the older god Amen-Re. In the 19th Dynasty arose the greatest pharaoh, Ramses II. Ramses achieved a period of temporary peace. In this period he spent time and money on luxurious building projects. A major achievement in Egyptian society was the role of women. Women were allowed to own land and pass it down to their daughters. Women also helped with agriculture and went shopping. Women were legally equal to men but in their own class. They even started having occupations. Some were singers, dancers, priests, and professional mourners. Women were even buried next to their husbands in an elegant tomb. As you can see there are many differences and similarities between the Sumerians and Ancient Egyptians. Both were one of the first civilizations and contributed into the development of how our world works today. From politics to family life our culture today has come from a very long line of ancient civilizations and reforms. Work Cited Chambers, Mortimer, The Western Experience. McGraw-Hill College, 1999 pg. 6-20 David, A. Rosalie, The Egyptian Kingdoms. New York: Peter Bedrick Books, 1975.

Graduate unemployment Essay

The rising unemployment rate among fresh university graduates today is an upsetting trend. Now the pool of unemployed graduates is rising to worrying levels even in some high-growth economies. This is due to several factors or causes that result in the increase of the unemployment rate today. This article brings and discusses the main causes and issues/effects on the unemployment of many fresh graduates. It is expected that this study of unemployment will achieve the objective and highlights of some important issues which relate to unemployment in graduates. The main cause of unemployment among graduates would be the lack of professional connections. (Alyssa Davis, 2014) For a fresh graduate, it is not often easier to find valuable contacts to recommend a job or get recommended. A valuable connection not only guides them in right direction but also helps fresh graduates to step into a job easily. Employers are followers of technology. They are in a constant search for a common connection that can fit in a vacant position in his organisation. Another cause of unemployment among graduates would be the lack of experience. Fresh graduates often do not have any practical experience of work. (Heidi, 2014) The lack of experience interrupts their job application and causes a significant delay in their employment. The career portfolio of a graduate is important to make up with his/her inexperience. They can attend on-job training programs and internships to demonstrate their working skill and talent in looking for a suitable job. Besides that, the causes of unemployment may also be due to economic crisis and recession. It is a common problem because businesses stop making as much money and have to result in less or no employment of fresh graduates. Unskilled and inexperienced workers such as fresh university graduates will suffer unemployment due to the fact that most employers will be looking for professional workers with a certain set of working skill to maintain the company’s performance during a recession. (Will Kimball, 2014) Effects of unemployment among graduates would be primarily financial issues. Graduates usually do not have enough savings or source of a stable income to support themselves, majority of them will face insufficient use of money daily. With the lost income and the frustration involved in it, the recently unemployed may develop negative attitudes toward common things in life and may feel that all sense of purpose is lost. Also, the effect of unemployment would include the loss of valuable skills  and talent of fresh graduates. The unemployed is not able to put his/her skills to use. And in a situation where it goes on for too long the person may have to lose some of his/her skills that is critical to their success in their field of study. To further complicate the situation, the longer the unemployed graduate is out of job the more difficult it becomes to find a new one. Employers find employment gasps as a negative aspect. No one wants to hire a person who has been out of work for some time even when there’s no fault of the individual per say. In conclusion, if the unemployment issue among graduates is not solved, creation of problems to the unemployed graduates, nations, society and even the country will certainly arise. Furthermore, if the nation’s unemployment continues to be severing, riots and insurgency will be occurring across the country and halting the country trading. A significant lost towards the nation will arise due to this serious problem. Therefore, more on-job training, internships, proper guidance and counselling will help many graduates understand the causes of unemployment. (588 words) 2) Outline of the essay Causes Unemployment among graduates would be the lack of professional connections. Unemployment among graduates would be the lack of experience. Fresh graduates often do not have any practical experience of work Trend of many fresh graduates seeking high income and professional jobs. Causes of unemployment may also be due to economic crisis and recession. Effects Financial problems of many fresh graduates who do not have any source of savings or income. The effect of unemployment would include the loss of valuable skills and talent of fresh graduates. The unemployed is not able to put his/her skills to use

The Fault in Our Stars - Book Club Discussion

'The Fault in Our Stars' - Book Club Discussion The Fault in Our Stars by John Green has characters who ask big questions. Use this guide to help your book club think about some of the themes Green raises. Spoiler Warning: These book club discussion questions contain important details about the story. Finish the book before reading on. Do you like the first person style of the novel?Even though The Fault in Our Stars deals with timeless questions, it has many markers of the year it was written from facebook pages to text messages and TV show references. Do you think these things will affect its ability to endure over the years or do the concrete references enhance its appeal?Did you guess that Augustus was sick?On page 212, Hazel discusses Maslows Heirarchy of Needs: According to Maslow, I was stuck on the second level of the pyramid, unable to feel secure in my health and therefore unable to reach for love and respect and art and whatever else, which is, of course, utter horseshit: The urge to make art or contemplate philosophy does not go away when you are sick. Those urges just become transfigured by illness. Discuss this statement, and whether you agree with Maslow or Hazel.In support group, Hazel says, There will come a time when all of us are dead. All of us. There will come a time when there are no human be ings remaining to remember that anyone ever existed or that or species ever did anything...maybe that time is coming soon and maybe it is millions of years away, but even if we survive the collapse of our sun, we will not survive forever...And if the inevitability of human oblivion worries you, I encourage you to ignore it. God knows thats what everyone else does (13). Do you worry about oblivion? Do you ignore it? Different characters in the novel have different views and coping mechanisms to deal with life an death. How do you? Reread Augustus letter that Hazel gets via Van Houten at the end of the novel. Do you agree with Augustus? Is is a good way for the novel to end?What affect does the mingling of normal teenage problems (break ups, coming of age) with a terminal diagnosis create in the novel? For instance, do you think it is realistic that Isaac would care more about his break up with Monica than his blindness?Rate The Fault in Our Stars 1 to 5.

Essay on Le Corbusier Villa Savoye

Essay on Le Corbusier Villa Savoye Essay on Le Corbusier: Villa Savoye Essay on Le Corbusier: Villa SavoyeLe Corbusier (1887 –1965), a talented Swiss-French architect and designer, is well known as the founder of modern architecture. Le Corbusier was born in Switzerland, but in 1930, he became a citizen of France. His unique buildings were constructed in Europe, India, and the USA. The architect was focused on designing the houses for the residents of the contemporary large cities, providing improved conditions for living in overcrowded areas. Le Corbusier was a well-educated man. He studied arts at the La-Chaux-de-Fonds Art School and architecture in Vienna. He was a â€Å"founder of the Congrà ¨s International dArchitecture Moderne (CIAM)† (Pinder 61). Le Corbusier’s talent had been widely used in urban planning. The most influential figures in his life were Renà © Chapallaz, Auguste Perret, Josef Hoffmann, Peter Behrens, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius.Cultural and societal influencesLe Corbusier managed to invert the established traditional design elements. He placed heavy architectural elements above the light ones located below. Besides, he â€Å"refused to enclose the ground story of the Villa Savoye with masonry walls†(Kleiner 887). Besides, he was influenced by new technologies. According to researchers, Le Corbusier â€Å"occupies a critical position in urbanism† due to the influence of the city planning(Pinder 61). He wanted to reconstruct modern cities, making considerable change in urban design. The architect criticized the disorder of modern cities and wanted to make them more impressive and appealing for living. He was focused on the transformation of spaces. According to Pinder, he was influenced by â€Å"the garden city movement† (63). Le Corbusier’s ideas contributed to the new styles in post-war reconstruction of the city buildings, especially during the housing crisis in France in the 1920s. The architect argued that â€Å"urban problems were root ed in a failure to come to terms with the demands of industry and the machine age† (Pinder 63). He paid special attention to the effects of urbanization and the consequences of mechanization for the city life.A discussion of some of the most influential works by the subject  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The most influential work is the Villa Savoye designed by Le Corbusier in 1929 in France. The Villa Savoye is a unique seminal building designed in the Modernist style. The Villa Savoye project is unique due to the uniqueness of design and construction. Le Corbusier used steel and ferroconcrete as the major construction materials, which helped to make the so-called â€Å"load† of the upper stories of the building by means of the slender columns (Kleiner 887).The Villa Savoye was designed to serve as a private home, but the architect was influenced by cultural and social factors to create a house that could serve as â€Å"the machine for living† (Klei ner 887). Le Corbusier designed the Villa Savoye the way he did because the architect reflected the fundamental nature of his style in architecture. The Villa Savoye is considered to be the purest Modernist construction.There are five major elements in the Villa Savoye’s architectural style, including   slender columns, impressive flat roof terrace, open plan, ribbon windows and free faà §ade (AD Classics: Villa Savoye / Le Corbusier, 2013). These elements were used by Le Corbusier as he was interested in technology and design of traditional steamships. The architect used simple design that resembled. His idea to create a unique steam-lined design was born out of new innovative engineering techniques of the 1920s-30s. Thus, cultural and social factors influenced Le Corbusier’s spatial planning, simplicity in details and minimalistic aesthetic and established the architect’s vision, making the Villa Savoye seminal.

Free Essays on Smuckers

This team was charged to investigate about this company named J.M. Smuckers. This project involves library research and telephone interviews involving all the different aspects already seen in class and comparing this terms in the company with the lectures that the class has read. The team started with the company’s history shown in their web page soon to be continued with the reason why this company is in the top 100 best companies in the fortune magazine, and we did this because it was the first step in the project to find a company with these requirements History It all began with Jerome Monroe Smucker and a family recipe for apple butter back in 1897. Jerome hand signed each crock jar as his personal guarantee of quality. Today, thay continue to back up that commitment with over 100 quality checkpoints as our fruit makes its way from field to jar. Back in 1897, in the Midwestern farming community of Orrville, Ohio, Jerome Monroe Smucker pressed locally grown apples into cider and apple butter. True to his upbringing, Jerome took great pride in a job well done and signed the lid of every crock of apple butter as his personal guarantee of quality. By adhering to a very simple set of Basic Beliefs, The J.M. Smucker Company grew and prospered. Today, Smucker’s sells their products in the whole world. While Orrville, Ohio, remains our headquarters, we now operate facilities throughout the United States and abroad to manufacture a wide range of products. From the small town beginning to their present worldwide distribution, pride in the family name has remained as strong as ever. Now, under the management of fourth-generation Smuckers, they continue to stand behind the guarantee of homemade taste, quality, and goodness. About the company The J.M. Smucker Company was founded in 1897 when the Company’s namesake and founder sold his first product apple butter from the back of a horse-drawn wagon. Today, over a ... Free Essays on Smuckers Free Essays on Smuckers This team was charged to investigate about this company named J.M. Smuckers. This project involves library research and telephone interviews involving all the different aspects already seen in class and comparing this terms in the company with the lectures that the class has read. The team started with the company’s history shown in their web page soon to be continued with the reason why this company is in the top 100 best companies in the fortune magazine, and we did this because it was the first step in the project to find a company with these requirements History It all began with Jerome Monroe Smucker and a family recipe for apple butter back in 1897. Jerome hand signed each crock jar as his personal guarantee of quality. Today, thay continue to back up that commitment with over 100 quality checkpoints as our fruit makes its way from field to jar. Back in 1897, in the Midwestern farming community of Orrville, Ohio, Jerome Monroe Smucker pressed locally grown apples into cider and apple butter. True to his upbringing, Jerome took great pride in a job well done and signed the lid of every crock of apple butter as his personal guarantee of quality. By adhering to a very simple set of Basic Beliefs, The J.M. Smucker Company grew and prospered. Today, Smucker’s sells their products in the whole world. While Orrville, Ohio, remains our headquarters, we now operate facilities throughout the United States and abroad to manufacture a wide range of products. From the small town beginning to their present worldwide distribution, pride in the family name has remained as strong as ever. Now, under the management of fourth-generation Smuckers, they continue to stand behind the guarantee of homemade taste, quality, and goodness. About the company The J.M. Smucker Company was founded in 1897 when the Company’s namesake and founder sold his first product apple butter from the back of a horse-drawn wagon. Today, over a ...

Cohorting Colonized Low Risk Patients with MRSA and Using Universal Research Proposal

Cohorting Colonized Low Risk Patients with MRSA and Using Universal Precautions will Increase Patient Satisfaction, Improve pati - Research Proposal Example Since the aim is to cut-down the running costs of hospitals by implementation of newer method, the collection of cost-related data from hospital authorities to make comparisons is also part of this study. B. Study population i. Setting The best possible avenue for this study could be a general hospital, as the availability of multiple specialties provides an opportunity to work in a coordinated manner with all specialties who can possibly contribute to this study. A hospital with a Department of Infectious Disease will be preferred for this study. As the Department of Infectious Disease works with nearly all other departments of the hospital, its position is central in contributing not only to the hospital but also to this study. Presence of an isolation ward is mandatory for this study, due to the fact that MRSA infected cases are the subjects of this study, and they require isolation. In addition to this, a reasonable turnover of patients is also expected to be the norm of the sele cted hospital. The reason for this is the fact that, the higher the number of subjects enrolled for this study, the better will be the results. ii. Subject selection Various specialties of hospital will be informed about the ongoing study. They will be requested to report to the Infectious Disease Department, the presence of suspected cases of MRSA. These cases will then be evaluated in order to make sure they are suitable candidates for this study. A total of twenty patients will be selected from those who are being treated under contact isolation while another twenty will be selected from among those who are receiving universal precautions. Patients who are unable to communicate verbally will not be selected as subjects for this study, as this study also involves interviewing the subjects to assess their wellbeing. Mentally ill patients or children under the age of 13 will also be excluded from this study. iii. Subject recruitment strategy The subjects will be recruited from the h ospital. A clear-cut written guideline/checklist will be provided to the assisting hospital staff for the purpose of selection of candidates. Assistance will be sought from the hospital management and the hospital staff, especially doctors and nurses, who will help to identify the patients who fit the profile for the purpose of this research. Gaining assistance from hospital staff will also decrease our study cost, as the hospitals staff is often well aware of their patients’ conditions and the need to test them again for being suitable for the study-under-consideration will not exist. Willingness of patients to become part of this study will be sought after explaining to them the importance of this study, and how they can contribute to the overall wellbeing of humanity by being part of this study. The consent of each patient will be gained after explaining the purpose and scope of the study. C. Study variables i. Independent variables The independent variables for this study will include the frequency of use of universal procedures compared with the frequency of use of gloves and gowns byhospital staff in the course of their interaction with MRSA patients. These variables will help to determine the incidence of infections transmitted from MRSA patients under study to other patients and staff members in the hospital.It will include the instances where

Bullying English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Bullying English - Essay Example Bullying may occur because of several reasons that include but are not limited to racism, hatred, and jealousy. When an individual bullies another, it fundamentally reflects a sense of insecurity in the bully to alleviate which, the individual tends to make use of bullying. Bullying is one of the most complicated issues in all kinds of organizations including schools and offices. This paper discusses the effects of bullying on the victim. Bullying has many negative effects on the psychological and physical health of an individual at any age, and is often a root-cause of life-long trauma. Bullying has many psychological effects on the victim. Bullying puts the victim into the psychological trauma. This does not only put the victim into depression, but also ruins the personality of the victim. The victim loses the tendency to deal with the challenges of life. The victim tends to underestimate his ability to handle bullies in any kind of task, because he has failed to deal with them eff ectively once in the past. This shatters the victim’s self-confidence. While the victim has a lot of potential, he is not able to utilize that because of under-estimation of his abilities. Mental scars are much more long-lasting and painful as compared to the physical scars that may be caused by bullying. Mental scars are formed as a result of complete break-down of the reputation, self-respect, and self-esteem of the victim of bullying. Sometimes, bullying inculcates violence in the behavior of the victim. The feeling that he was not able to defend himself against the bully makes the victim over-conscious in his social behavior in the future. The victim tends to interpret everything negatively even if it was not intended by the other party. Thinking that bullying has caused him a lot of suffering in the past, and moved by the urge to not let that happen ever again to him, the victim overreacts in situations where it is not required at all. As a result of this, the victim sta rts losing his respect in the eyes of others and is perceived by the society as an evil person. â€Å"[S]o many children who are bullied turn to delinquent behaviors in an effort to escape the mental anguish that has pushed upon them by a bully† (I Hate Bullies, 2009). While at heart, the victim is not a bad person and the over-reaction is just a measure of self-defense necessitated by years of pain and suffering, he gets his image tarnished in the eyes of the public. Bullying has many physical effects on the victim, particularly when the bully casts physical abuse on the victim. Physical abuse can cause anything ranging from minor scars to death of the victim. Victim of bullying is susceptible to becoming drug addict. Victims of bullying tend to seek refuge in drugs in an attempt to escape the constant feeling of embarrassment and loss of self-esteem caused by bullying. The victim becomes extremely depressed and finds ways to numb the depression, and drugs seem to provide a way out. The victim starts from occasional drug intake, and gradually becomes regular which leads him to the path of drug addiction

Western Civilization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Western Civilization - Essay Example According to Thucydides, Hobbes & Greene (1989), in the speech, Pericles depict the society of Athens as democratic. He purports that democracy allows men to advance based on merit and not because of wealth or what they inherit. The speech describes the society of Athens as one where citizens portray lawful behavior without any fear. Pericles observe that the system of governance in Athens does not assert that imitate laws of their neighboring countries. Thucydides, Hobbes, & Greene (1989) Democracy in Athens comes out clearly when Pericles says that the administration system respects the multitude. Therefore, the society of Athens can be described as democratic since it gives all the citizens equal rights and freedom. Thucydides write that the Athens constitution favors the majority and not a few. The laws offer equal justice to all people, in cases of private conflicts and differences. Pericles note that the Athens society does not favor people based on class differences. Merit takes precedence in all aspects of the democratic Athens society. Additionally, democracy in Athens gives equal chances to those who want to serve the state. Pericles maintain that freedom and democracy enjoyed in Athens spreads to the ordinary life (Thucydides, Hobbes & Greene, 1989). I feel that Pericles did not idealize or exaggerate the Athenian democracy. He portrayed positivity and strength to his people, which many followed. Pericles can be described as a powerful and confident leader; people followed actions of Pericles governance. Lysistrata conveys her opinion concerning the place of women in the Greek society. She is against the fact that the Athens democracy only consists of men. Lysistrata has the feeling that the Greek society does not recognize women’s strength and abilities. In her opinion, women have similar abilities to men and can do everything, which men can do. In Periclean Athens, women did not

The current status of childhood obesity on measured outcomes Essay

The current status of childhood obesity on measured outcomes - Essay Example A child who attends a public school and is eligible for national school lunch and school breakfast programs has a higher prevalence of BMI than one attending private school (Hooker, 2009, p. 100). Approximately 70% of the children being obese have a cardiovascular risk while on the other hand, 30% of them are at risk of hypertension (MMWR, 2011, p. 42). Due to increased concern about the condition, an initiative needs to be started to reduce child prevalence of obesity. The research indicates that the obesity levels are increasing tremendously especially with the increasing low child activity with one hour on TV and playing games being associated with 0.08%-1.4% increase in obesity (MMWR, 2011). For the condition to be reversed, children are to be encouraged to participate in physical activities such as games. This will play a great role in reversing the condition and reducing the escalating

Freedom of Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Freedom of Religion - Essay Example The research paper investigates the stand of the judicial system of the US and the federal government in the interpretation of the free exercise clause when confronted with different aspects of the freedom of religion as enshrined in the US Constitution. The Free exercise clause explicitly prohibits the US government from interfering with the religious choice of each individual. The Clause also bars the US government from invading various religious practices that do not pose security threats to the country. The free exercise clause forbids the US government from forceful recruitment of citizens into particular fields believed to contradict individuals’ religious standing. The clause further allows individuals to make their own decisions and choices regarding the type of religions in which they desire to belong. The Supreme Court of the US applied the principles of the free exercise clause to grant the Amish community the request of terminating the education of their children a t the eighth grade of education. The Amish in their status felt satisfied and tended to derecognize the needs for furthering the education of their children. In this case, the Amish community was granted request on the basis of their religion, which deemed it unfair for states to sponsor their children’s education while they were economically stable. The Free Exercise Clause also accredits parents the right to choose and decide on the appropriate schools that comply with their individual religious beliefs.

The current status of childhood obesity on measured outcomes Essay

The current status of childhood obesity on measured outcomes - Essay Example A child who attends a public school and is eligible for national school lunch and school breakfast programs has a higher prevalence of BMI than one attending private school (Hooker, 2009, p. 100). Approximately 70% of the children being obese have a cardiovascular risk while on the other hand, 30% of them are at risk of hypertension (MMWR, 2011, p. 42). Due to increased concern about the condition, an initiative needs to be started to reduce child prevalence of obesity. The research indicates that the obesity levels are increasing tremendously especially with the increasing low child activity with one hour on TV and playing games being associated with 0.08%-1.4% increase in obesity (MMWR, 2011). For the condition to be reversed, children are to be encouraged to participate in physical activities such as games. This will play a great role in reversing the condition and reducing the escalating

Maximus and Aquinas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Maximus and Aquinas - Essay Example Thomas Aquinas and St. Maximus the Confessors input on this issue. Will can be defined as choice or determination. Divine will is what a Divine being, God, chooses or determines. Even though it sounds clear enough, the question then becomes; who is God or what components make up God? This leads to a discussion on knowledge about God, including what is the true knowledge. Then influences on mens perception of true knowledge, like Plato or Aristotle need to be examined. Human will, or human choice or determination, appears less complicated, but in reality is not. The reason human will is not clear cut comes down to how much Divine will influences mans thoughts. This factor is unknown. Opinions range from human will that is totally free to human will being guided by completely by Divine will. Aquinas and Maximus agree that humans have a will, or choice when dealing with issues of God. Aquinas asserted â€Å"that for the knowledge of any truth whatsoever man needs Divine help, that the intellect may be moved by God to its act.†1 Despite this statement, Aquinas thought that humans have a natural instinct to have knowledge without Divine revelation. Aquinas also acknowledged that Divine revelation occurs from time to time, "especially in regard to faith.†2 This means that true knowledge comes from God, but humans can also reason things out with and without Divine revelation. Through the working out of the commandments the mind puts off the passions. Through the spiritual contemplation of visible realities it puts off impassioned thoughts of things. Through the knowledge of invisible realities it puts off contemplation of visible things. And finally this it puts off through knowledge of the Holy Trinity.3 Maximus felt that knowledge comes in an abstracting from the realm of the senses into one of intellect.4 Maximus thought that any projection onto an thought of possible apprehension makes out perception of this object false.5 This

Charles Dickens most famous Bildungsroman novel Essay Example for Free

Charles Dickens most famous Bildungsroman novel Essay How Does Dickens Presentation of Pip as a young boy contrast to Pip as an Adult?  Great Expectations is one of Charles Dickens most famous Bildungsroman novel. This story is serialised in journals from 1860 1861. It was published chapter at a time therefore would leave every chapter at a cliff-hanger.  Due to this novel being published in journals it made this semi-autobiographical narrative available to the mass of people; soaring its popularity.  The main theme of this novel is associated with the main factors of Victorian era; Being Gentlemen; Education and Crime and Punishment. Dickens was a social observer and would therefore base his narratives on his concerns for the social laws. Great Expectations was an example of this. This story is based on Pip, the main character, and how his life changes as he comes into possession of a lot of money from an unknown benefactor breaking the wall of social mobility on his way to become a Gentleman. The whole essay shows the retrospective view of Pip looking back on his life. Furthermore most of the events experience by Pip could also be his past experiences. This is why Great Expectations is Charles Dickens most semi-autobiographical piece of writing. This general aim of this essay is to describe the way Pip was presented as a young boy and later on in his life by this worldwide known author, Charles Dickens.  The key scenes in this novel which will be analysed in detail. The chosen key scenes are; chapters 1-8 where Pip is growing up as a young kid and ahs his first encounter with the convict. The significance of these chapters is that it shows Pips childhood and also describes his first meeting with Magwitch, who plays a huge role in this novel. The central point of this report will be focused on chapter 27-38. This shows Pip as a young gentleman. This is very vital as it shows the way Pip has changed from his childhood ways. In these chapters it shows when Pip is reunited with his benefactor.  The Last key scenes will be chapter 57 and 58. This is when Pip is comes together with Joe hoping to propose to Biddy. The significance of this is that Joe is going to get married to Biddy; therefore Pips reaction to this news is very interesting. Pip was bought up an orphan. The only living family member of Pip was his sister Mrs Joe Gargery. My first fancies regarding what they were like were unreasonably derived from their tombstones This quotation emphasis the fact that Pip was an orphan who had never seen his parents and is an example of dual narrative as it is quite humorous but also sad at the same time. At the beginning of the play Dickens makes the readers fell sympathetic towards Pip. This makes the readers like Pip throughout the story no matter what he does. In the Victorian Era being an orphan was very common. It meant they had no prospects for the future, would be illiterate and would therefore lead a very poor life. They would usually be homeless or taken in by gentlemens to be their slaves. I was at that time undersized for years and not very strong. This quotation shows that Pip had a lack of prospects which emphasised he came from a poor background. The term undersized could be used for physical terms but also could be used that he had no say in the community as he was a child and he had no say generally as him and his family were very poor. Charles Dickens reversed these points about a poor person and made social mobility possible for Pip.  At the beginning of the narrative Pip is a naive young boy who has no knowing of the outside world. Most of this is due to being brought up without education. Education in that era was very important as only the rich could afford it. This immediately brought up the aspect of class issues in this novel. Education led to people being in a higher social group to those who werent educated and possibly shaped their future. Pip suffered abuse from many people. He was bought up by hand by his sister Mrs Joe. She had a reputation for this. This showed that Pip was brought with discipline and wouldnt dare to do a thing wrong as he would get punished for this. Another quotation that explains that Mrs Joe beats Pip to teach him manners and discipline is Be grateful boy to them which bought you up by hand. Whats worse shes got the tickler with her, this quotation shows how much Pip feared the tickler and getting beaten by Mrs Joe. As well as receiving physical abuse from Mrs Joe he received verbal abuse from many family friends such as Mr Pumblechook and also Estella. It was from the Victorian times that the saying Children should be seen but not heard was created. This saying applied to Pip. Many guttural sounds were used to describe the abuse that was inflicted upon Pip such as rampage. This emphasises the un-human like behaviour of Mrs Joe towards Pip.

Nurse patient relationship and first case of death

Nurse patient relationship and first case of death Introduction The purpose of this essay is to discuss, analyse and reflect upon an acute event which took place when caring for a patient in practice. The writer has chosen to discuss the diagnosis, care and death of an 82 year old gentleman, named James Green (hereafter referred to as James). The writer will discuss the nurse-patient relationship experienced with James, and how his death affected the writer. Due to and to ensure confidentiality, the chosen patients name has been edited, which follows the guidelines of the Department of Health Code of Practice on Confidentiality (2003), NMC Code of Conduct [Confidentiality] (2008) and the Use of Patient Information (DH 2006). The essay will begin with a discussion on reflection including definitions, its purpose, and the advantages and disadvantages of reflection in nursing and education. The essay will then describe the acute care event of his diagnosis and death and reflect upon this. The essay will be structured using Gibbs Reflective Cycle (1988) to enable the writer to consciously analyse what happened and why. In certain areas of this essay, it will be appropriate to write in the first person, when describing the incident and discussing the thoughts and feelings experienced at the time (Webb 1992). It is not usually academically appropriate to use the first person, however, in reflective essays, personal thoughts and emotions are required in some areas and therefore Webb argued that it was certainly more appropriate to refer to oneself as I in those sections. From the section subtitled Evaluation, the writer will revert back to writing in the third person, as this is considered more academically appropriate for analysis and evaluation. Reflection was appropriately described by Boud (2001) as turning experience into learning however, it has been considered an important tool in learning and development for many years. Reflection was first documented in 1933, by the philosopher, John Dewey, in his studies on psychology and the way one thinks and learns. Dewey thought of reflection as a form of problem solving, by relating ones experiences to earlier similar ones to explore any commonalities. Another concept of reflection is that it enables the nurse to solve problems or learn from actions through thinking consciously about an activity which would then enable one to learn from any task undertaken. This was argued by Mantzoukas and Jasper (2004) in their studies on reflection and ward activity. However, in nursing, one of the most significant studies on reflection was carried out by Donald Schà ¶n (1983; 1987) in his works on The Reflective Practitioner. Much of the nursing literature regarding and surrounding reflecti on refers to Schà ¶n, which indicates that his work is widely accepted in nursing and nursing education. It is also from Schà ¶n that the term reflective practice was born. Schà ¶n advised that reflection, is a form of story telling, that leads the nurse into selecting particular actions and details of an activity one would normally or abnormally carry out. This in turn allows the nurse to solve details of their actions and learn exactly what in fact they had carried out. In nursing, reflection is used as an aid in recognition and development of knowledge and skills of chronic and acute illness, accidents and the care and treatment of a patient. Reflection following an experience in practice allows a nurse to revisit, explore and learn from an incident and gives an opportunity to relate the incident to theory. According to Maggs and Biley (2000) there are advantages to learning and evaluating practice through reflection. By allowing one to challenge opinions and theories in relation to an incident and relating these back to practice, the nurse can spend time discovering what happened and why. Reflection can be used to evaluate any clinical incident, positive or negative to attempt to better understand and contemplate the events which have taken place, and the behaviour, emotions and actions of not only the nurse, but the patient and others involved at that time Reflection allows time for one to think deeply about a situation and increase knowledge sur rounding that situation (Hannigan 2001). These advantages were mirrored by Gustaffson and Fagerberg (2004). Reflection in nursing is guided by various models of reflection, such as Gibbs Model of Reflection (1988), Johns model (1994), Kolbs Learning Cycle (1984) and Atkins and Murphys model of reflection (1994). This essay will focus upon and use Gibbs Model as the structure for reflecting upon the acute care event witnessed in practice. Gibbs model is considered a useful framework by students for structuring reflection as it is clearly separated into smaller sections titled, description, thoughts and feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, and an action plan, in the style of an ongoing cycle of learning and reflecting. Gibbs unlike most other models of reflection encourages the learner to think through emotions and feelings experienced (Jones and Alinier 2006). However, Rolfe et al (2001), and Jones and Alinier (2006) argued that the six sections in the cycle were unspecific and too general and that it assumes that all learners have the same needs. Despite this, for the purpose of thi s essay, Gibbs model is considered the most appropriate. It would appear from the literature read, that there are many more advantages than disadvantages, for the use of reflection in nursing and nurse education. However a strong example which was found when searching for disadvantages was that some writers believe that not all those using reflection would feel comfortable writing openly and honestly about a situation, if they thought someone were to read it. This may be due to a lack of trust or a fear of humiliation or simply being unable to or not wanting to revisit uncomfortable situations or memories (Boud 2001; Tate and Sills 2004). Sumner (2010) discussed success in reflection in terms of moral maturity and found that nurses with little experience, as well as younger nurses, fail to have the experience and maturity to allow them to be comfortable and successful in reflection. Also, Dewey (1933) wrote that reflection only begins when an individual identifies a problem or a need to learn from an activity. If an individual is not to th ink of a problem or activity then reflection may not take place. The structure of Gibbs reflective cycle will begin here with the first section of the cycle, detailing what happened in the Acute Care Event. For the purpose of structuring this essay, each section will be subtitled in accordance with the headings used in Gibbs Cycle. Description As discussed in the introduction, the writer will here describe the illness and death of a patient being cared for in practice. The acute care event which will be focussed on is his diagnosis and death and the emotions felt by the writer following the loss of this patient. James had presented in AE after a fall at home and apart from a previous medical history of a myocardial infarction in 2007 and tachycardia, James was in good health. This was his first fall, however he had trouble recalling if he had tripped, or alternatively collapsed. Following his fall, it was reported he was having mobility problems and was notably short of breath and therefore he was admitted onto the ward, originally for overnight observation. He was being cared for on the ward with regular observations, medication and was prescribed 2litres of oxygen through a nasal cannula for his shortness of breath and lower oxygen saturation (SpO2). He was scoring 0 on most occasions on his Early Warning Score (Morgan et al 1997), which indicated that he was quite well other than his noted shortness of breath. Within 4 days of being admitted to the ward however, James health had not improved and rather, had begun to deteriorate and he was being monitored regularly. He complained of pain in his lower abdomen and advised he had been suffering from constipation intermittently for several weeks. He was prescribed senna to relieve this, however his symptoms persisted. James was then sent by the medical team for an abdominal CT and X-ray, which diagnosed colorectal cancer, with large malignancies in both his colon and rectum, and metastatic cancer of the liver. Consultants sadly diagnosed this as terminal as all 8 segments of the liver were cancerous and the disease was too severe for him to benefit from active treatment and so they recommended he be managed conservatively, ensuring he was comfortable and pain free. The decision was made by the medical staff following discussion with James that resuscitation would not take place in the event of an arrest as doctors decided this would allow James a dignified and peaceful death, given his diagnosis and illness. This is the decision made in most cases with terminal illness or with the very elderly (Jevon 1999). Despite this, staff predicted he would be discharged as he was still well and self-caring. Over the 2 weeks after his diagnosis, James weight decreased and his BMI dropped from19 to 16. His appetite lessened, and he became frail and unable to walk around the ward. On the fourteenth day following his diagnosis, James passed away around 7pm. I was caring for a patient at the bed next to him, when his family discovered he had passed away, and informed me. I closed the curtains around his bed and then reported his death to the nursing staff and my mentor, leaving James family to spend time with him and grieve. James was pain free at the time of his death and appeared settled and comfortable in the short time before his death that evening. Thoughts and Feelings This was my first experience of death, and James and I, along with other staff, had developed a strong Nurse-Patient relationship and rapport. He was a well liked patient on the ward and his diagnosis and death were sudden and relatively unexpected. The nursing staff allowed me to sit away from the ward as I was noticeably distressed, upset and unable to disguise my emotions. The break enabled me to compose myself away from the ward, James and his family and reflect upon what I had just experienced. I felt extremely sad that James had died and also felt as though I was unaware of how to cope or react having never seen a dead body and not experiencing death before. I found it difficult not to cry, knowing that some may find it inappropriate but informed the nursing staff of the fact that this was the first experience of death in an acute setting and that I felt inexperienced in how to deal with the emotions I was experiencing. Over the course of the evening, when speaking to my colleagues, his family, and when at home after my shift, I experienced phases of sadness, powerlessness as a student nurse and guilt. I felt it was appropriate to discuss my experience with my family in order to share my feelings and receive comfort and support from others. Some writers argue that the feeling of guilt and powerlessness is because many feel that somehow they should have done more to prevent the death occurring, despite death in many cases being unavoidable (Kirchhoff et al 2002). Dakin (2003) discussed that the emotions felt by the nurse are more for the impact the loss has on the family, and will begin when observing the emotions of the family. Gerow et al (2010) argue that the way a nurse copes during and after a first death, and whether they are supported by colleagues during this time, will affect their behaviour and emotions in future deaths. I feel I was well supported by my mentor at the time, in that she allowed me to take some time to compose myself after his death, and gave me the opportunity to decide whether or not I carried out last offices. My personal thoughts are that at the time of the incident, I was experiencing a similar grief to that of the loss of a loved one or friend, as James and I had developed a strong nurse-patient relationship and he was an extremely popular patient with all the nursing staff during his time on the ward, although he was always aware of professional boundaries. I feel that in reflection of this event, I was not prepared for experiencing my first death and was unaware of how to cope during the incident and therefore perhaps, I was fearful and displayed too much emotion. Kà ¼bler-Ross (1969, 1973), discussed grief as a five stage model, containing denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. When comparing the emotions felt during this time, it is quite possible that the feelings only cover the depression and acceptance stage of this five stage model. Her theory of grief was originally designed to incorporate the feelings of terminally ill patients into an understandable and recognisable model or cycle, however, the theory also includes a broader theory that those involved in a dying persons care may experience comparable stages of adjustment. Some have argued that this theory is not relevant to many patient or others experiences surrounding death or illness and that since the publication of her book, there has been no further research or evidence to support the five stage model (Bonanno 2001). Lange et al (2009), compared nurses attitudes and emotions when dealing with death regularly, to various attitude scales, such as The  Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying (FATCOD) Scale (1991), in which it gives a range of potential thoughts and feelings a nurse may encounter and asks the nurse to compare their feelings to these suggestions and gives a total score. Their findings showed that the more experience a nurse had with death and care of the dying, the more positive their feelings and emotions were, and those with little or less experience, showed more negative emotions, such as fear. The study also showed that those with less experience would benefit from education and exposure to ensure they cope effectively with end-of-life care and death, which mirrors other literature on nurses emotions and coping (Lange et al 2009; Hegedus et al 2008; Dunn et al 2005). The writer has read articles on the emotions experienced by students when coping with difficult situations and death which has allowed me to compare the way I felt, to the way other nurses feel in similar situations and literature has confirmed that the emotions felt by myself at the time of the incident are in fact quite common among nurses and in particular nurses with less experience in coping with death (Redinbaugh et al 2003; Lange et al 2009; Dakin 2003). Evaluation Prior to and after James death, following his diagnosis of terminal colorectal cancer, he was well supported by all health professionals involved in his care. He was notably low in mood and quite tearful at times in the 2 weeks before his death. He spoke at length about his feelings and asked a number of questions about his condition and about death. He would often inform the nursing staff of his gratefulness and ability to open up to them about his illness and discuss the shock he was suffering following his diagnosis. He would often advise us that he felt a comfort from knowing someone was there to listen and talk to him. James care was well managed by staff, including the acute care incident of his death where dignity and respect remained a positive element of his care as a whole. As previously documented, he was a popular patient on the ward and all health professionals enjoyed working with him. By deeming James popular, the writer has reflected upon this, and on the nurses attitudes towards other patients on the ward and whether care given to less popular patients was the same. Stockwell (1972) discussed the care given from nursing staff and attitudes, to popular and unpopular patients. This study challenged the opinion that nurses treat all patients the same in a non-judgmental manner and the conclusions found that those patients deemed unpopular were in fact treated less well than those deemed more popular. Reflecting on James and the other patients, this conclusion is fairly true of some, not all, nursing staff on the ward, in that there were similar patients whom were deemed more difficult to care for, and they were often not given as much time or support from staff. This theory has been revisited a number of times with different studies and reviews, man y of which reaching the same conclusions as Stockwell (English and Morse, 1988; Carveth 1995; Conway 2000). There are positive and negative elements to this, in that James was given excellent care and support during his time on the ward, and there is doubt whether the nursing and medical staff could have done more to reassure James or make him comfortable, however, it has made the writer realise that perhaps other patients were not cared for in the same way. At the time of the incident, immediately after being informed of James death; the writer feels as though they coped well, giving the family time and privacy to come to terms with his death, away from nursing staff and other patients. The writer was strong enough to not show any outward emotion at the time, and it was only when informing the other staff, that sadness and distress occurred. The writer feels the way they coped around his family was a positive experience, as they could see sadness from a nursing point of view, but other emotions were appropriately fairly hidden until away from them. Some may argue that perhaps at the time there was too much emotion exposed overall, however, again, these emotions did not show in front of James family (Bolton 2000). However, one cannot say that a tear was not shed when speaking to them, but the writer believes this to be an appropriate way of empathising with the relatives of patients following the death of their loved one, and for that, t he relatives are most grateful (Redinbaugh et al 2003). Dakin (2003), on a study of emotions of nursing students, found that most, if not all, have experienced a sense of loss and grief and have become emotional at the loss of a patient at some point, but mainly in the earlier stages of training and on the first experience of death. Redinbaugh et al (2003) again, discussed the emotions of Doctors and in particular medical students, following the death of a patient. Their findings showed that the more time that is spent with a patient; the more vulnerable the doctor is to feelings of loss when the patient dies. Although this paper refers to Medical staff and students, this is true for all health professionals, and can relate very strongly to nurses. As described above, the nursing staff allowed the writer to take some time away from the ward to stop crying and reflect upon what had and what was being experienced. One of the nursing staff came to discuss the writers feelings following his death and made sure the writer wasnt experiencing too much shock or distress. The support from nursing staff given during that time, was a very positive experience and extremely beneficial to learning. This was the writers first experience of Clinical Supervision, giving the writer time to discuss what had happened and the feelings being experienced (Cutliffe et al 2010). Clinical supervision was described by the NMC (1993) as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦professional support and learning which enables individual practitioners to develop knowledge and competenceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. This best describes the support the writer was given during this time and Bonanno et al (2001) argue that talking, rather than writing, about ones emotions following trauma or loss is highly beneficial to learning. Analysis In this section, the writer will discuss how James was cared for during his time on the ward, and select key themes from the incident which will enable the writer to discuss and analyse certain elements of the incident. The key themes which have been identified from the description and on reflection are the nurse-patient relationship, grief, and coping with the first experience of death. Prior to James death, following his diagnosis of terminal colorectal cancer, he was well supported by all Health professionals involved in his care. As previously documented, he was a popular patient on the ward and had a strong positive professional relationship with all staff involved in his care. The writer feels as though this was a positive element of James care and that effective communication took place between staff and patient in this instance. James appeared happy on the ward and would often praise nursing staff for their ability to talk to him and offer comfort in a distressing time. The nurse-patient relationship was described as a therapeutic relationship between a nurse and a client built on a series of interactions and developing over time in Mosbys Medical Dictionary (2009), which the writer believes to be a positive description and true to that of the relationship with James. The nurse patient-relationship in this instance is a factor of this acute care event that the writer has chosen to reflect upon. The nurse-patient relationship was documented by Peplau (1952) in the Interpersonal Relationship Model, where Peplau wrote of this being an essential element of nursing to enhance a patients well-being. This was an essential part of James care and an element that he himself was grateful for during a difficult and emotional time. Pullen and Mathias (2010) wrote that the key to the patient feeling a sense of peace and well-being was based on effective communication and building a therapeutic relationship. Nicholson et al (2010) also discussed effective communication and relationships as a positive promoter of dignity. Sumner (2010) wrote that effective nurse-patient relationships are only present when the nurse is competent, mature and experienced enough to manage themselves in the interaction. This could be seen as a disadvantage in nursing as a whole as many nurses are young and less socially mature or experienced. Also those fitting this category may believe this to be a false claim of younger nurses which the writer can also relate to. She also wrote that in caring as a nurse, there are two players involved, the patient and the nurse, who both have feelings and needs which need to be addressed in the interaction. With relation to the connection with dying patients, many nurses find it difficult to approach a patient and build a positive nurse-patient relationship due to fear, or the fear of losing that patient. This however can frustrate the nurse as they may feel a duty to connect with that person as well as comforting the patient when they are in distress or are frightened (Moore, 1997). Mok and Chiu (2004) found that the nurse-patient relationship in palliative care often developed into more of a friendship, as a nurse would spend more time with the families and much more time listening to the fears of patients and attending to their needs. The relationship being seen as a friendship was due to the depth of intensity of the relationship. This is due to the patient discussing extremely personal and emotional aspects of their life which would not normally occur, however this is a one-sided intimacy (Spross 1996). This theory was true of the relationship the writer and other health profession als had with James. For this reason, it can be understood why nurses sometimes feel a great sense of loss after the death of a patient they have cared for, as a close relationship may have formed, particularly with long term patients. Another key point recovered from this reflection, is that of the sadness and grief experienced, following the death of this patient. As documented in the section subtitled feelings, the writer feels as though they experienced a sense of loss which can be related to grief which may be similar to that experienced following the death of a friend. This is due to the positive nurse-patient relationship with James and as previously written, the fact that he was a popular and well thought of patient on the ward. Because his death was sudden following the diagnosis of colorectal cancer, the writer believes that none of the health professionals involved were prepared for his rapid deterioration and death. Again, Kà ¼bler-Ross (1969; 1973), describes grief and loss as a 5 stage model, commonly known as the five stages of grief. In it, the stages described are, denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, however an individual may not experience these stages in the order Kà ¼bler-Ross described, nor may they experience all of the five stages. When comparing the emotions felt during this time to this model, it is quite possible that the feelings experienced only cover the depression and acceptance stage of this five stage model. However, in Kà ¼bler-Rosss description of these stages, she writes that depression involves a person becoming detached from emotion, non-acceptant of affection or acceptant of efforts to improve emotion. When comparing this description to the emotions felt during this time, it may be possible that one did not experience depression in the form that is described and may only have experienced the acceptance stage of her five stage model. In this stage Kà ƒ ¼bler-Ross describes the acceptance as coming to terms with the loss (Kà ¼bler-Ross 1969). Bonanno (2002, 2004, and 2009) is a popular critic of the work of Kà ¼bler-Ross and other theorists. In his studies, and his book titled The Other Side of Sadness: What the New Science of Bereavement Tells Us About Life After a Loss, Bonanno states that grief does not necessarily occur in stages, as has previously been argued, rather that it contains four common sections (trajectories) which different people facing loss will experience. The four trajectories, as detailed by Bonanno are resilience, recovery, chronic dysfunction and delayed grief. Bonanno has been highly acclaimed by many psychologists and his peers however he is criticised also for his argument that humans can be resilient, or hardy in the face of trauma, which overturns the theories we have become accustomed to such as Kà ¼bler-Ross stages of grief and Freuds theory of repressed memories and coping. Matzo et al (2003) argued that the loss of a patient can affect all involved, including the patient, the family and the nurse themselves and that a nurse will experience a personal feeling of grief and confront it with their own coping skills. In terms of the sadness felt by the writer at the time of the death, as previously discussed, some may argue that from a professional perspective, expressing emotion in such way is not appropriate , however studies carried out have shown expression of emotion to be a healing power and can help with coping with distress in future incidents (Kennedy-Moore and Watson 1999, 2001; Pennebaker, 1997). In relation to this, Consedine et al, (2002), argue that inexpressiveness can be harmful and can cause delayed distress on the body, however some have argued that in terms of coping professionally, not expressing emotion or a lack of association with an emotional event, may be beneficial (Bonnano 2001). In nurse education, the theory surrounding death and dying is taught in terms of definition, assessment and intervention, and all student nurses are aware of these from an early stage; however, little or no teaching is given on death, emotion, grief and the feeling of loss experienced by the nurse (Matzo 2003). This in turn can affect the way a student experiencing a death for the first time can behave and can affect the emotions experienced and displayed, as it did for the writer on the death of James. As discussed earlier Dakin (2003), found that most nursing students when asked to discuss an experience of death, have shared a sense of loss and grief and have become emotional at the loss of a patient at some point which has argued that the sense of emotion felt by the writer is in fact relatively normal, particularly when less experienced with emotion situations. Conclusion Following the incident, when reflecting upon what happened and the feelings of the writer, it could be confirmed by the writer that James was given excellent care and support during his time on the ward and in death, and there is doubt whether the nursing and medical staff could have done more to reassure James or make him comfortable. James was pain free at the time of his death and appeared settled and comfortable. The writer feels this incident, although sad and emotional, to be overall quite positive, in that it has enabled the writer to learn from the emotions experienced and build strengths in dealing with similar situations. This incident and the chance the writer has had to reflect upon what happened at the time, has allowed the writer to discover the thoughts and feelings of the incident and relate them to literature. As this was the writers first experience of death and dying, there is no other previous clinical incident to relate these feelings and behaviour to, although a similar incident which has recently taken place, will be discussed in the next section. From speaking with doctors and nursing staff on the subject of coping with the death of a patient and coping with the sudden diagnosis of terminal illness, the author has learned more about the topic and how to approach it. The writer has also found it positive to learn that the emotions experienced are common, particularly among nurses and that emotion is a natural human response that in some cases cannot be avoided (Dakin 2003; Matzo 2003; Redinbaugh et al 2003). Working with and meeting James was a very heart warming and at the same time educational experience for the writer, in that his death, although emotional, has enabled the writer to learn from what happened and from the emotions experienced and build upon strengths in dealing with similar distressing experiences in their future training and career. The writer feels happy that had the opportunity to work with James, and happy, and thankful that it was him whom the writers first experience of death was with. Action Plan From writing this reflective essay, the writer has learned valuable theory and skills in dealing with death and dying patients and how emotion is quite normal in the experience of death. From reading literature, it has helped me understand more about death, grief and about how nurses cope and develop coping skills when dealing with emotional situations. I felt it necessary to review literature, to compare my feelings and to discover if others experience similar a similar sense of loss. On discovering that the emotions felt following a first death experience are common, it gave the writer assurance and confidence that they would cope better the next time a death occurred in practice. Coincidently, after reading this literature, recently, another elderly patient passed away whilst the writer was in practice. Similarly to James, she was a well liked patient on the ward and her death was relatively unexpected, although she was frail and elderly. From reflecting now upon how the writer coped with James death and how they coped with the death of the second patient, an 90 year old lady, the writer can see a substantial difference in the emotions felt during each incident. This confirms that the writer has gained confidence, knowledge and skills in dealing with death and dying patients. The writer learned how to shed a tear without becoming overly emotional, and how to offer sympathy and support to the family of the deceased without showing too much sadness. The writer believes this is due to not only the literature read for this essay, but also the support received from the nursing staff following James death, and the clinical supervision received on the ward by nursing staff at the time. This mirrors Bonannos (2001) argument that talking about an incident and ones emotions is highly beneficial and potentially more beneficial that writing or reflecting about it. The writer does feel however that student nurses should be given more ed

Essay --

While viewing The Conversation I was struck by the quality sound design. As we previously watched Gravity weeks prior it became clear why a movie like that would need many sound engineers to balance all the special effects one would get in an IMAX theatre. However, this feature goes in depth about Harry who is a Bugger, one who records people’s conversations or sounds, such as a private investigator. His job is to record others conversations and not ask questions from his employer. To capture the reality and impact of a story, sound technicians must manipulate the dialogue with any background or source music to flow naturally. As audience members, we do not recognize the complexity and extreme measures sound editors go to in order to capture everyday sounds of background noises and/or to highlight specific aspects of the world the character may be experiencing with more focus. When I think of films with great sound design, I usually think of the action or adventure genres. Al though The Conversation is not an action film, it exudes a powerful sound design that is quite impressive. The sound is greater than you could expect, or maybe even notice, on an initial viewing. The storyline allows its main character, played by Gene Hackman, to act as an on-screen sound mixer. Through the film’s volume changes the sound perspectives within the diegetic space were interesting to follow through listening intently. The dramatic differences are between looking down a street or standing in the street. Such as when Harry is trying to take the bongo drums out of the recording so he can clearly hear the vocals of the two people he is recording with precision. When watching the film I saw that Walter Murch actually did some of the sound design on... ...t within the diegesis we hear music that exemplifies his state of mood. He vigorously searches his apartment in hopes to find the bug that they placed in his apartment that is mentioned in the phone call. The piano starts out slowly then speeds up as he breaks everything in the place to the point he would need to replace it. It then fades off with Harry sitting on the torn up floor with the piano at a medium pace and him playing the saxophone showing his disappoint that he was one upped by someone. Lastly, in today’s world The Conversation still serves as a contemporary cautionary tale. It reminds us how important sound designers are to the world of filmmaking or private investigators that must record sounds. In today’s films we have made a huge breakthrough with sound technologies such as Dolby Atmos, which can only get better with advancement in future updates.

Buying A Computer :: Technology Market Analysis Informative

Buying a computer today is much more complicated then it was ten years ago. The choices we have are abundant, and the information we must gather to make those choices is much greater. The average consumer is a more educated buyer; they at least have some ideas of what they want in a computer. Yet, we must still ask ourselves these significant questions; such as: What will the primary function of my computer be? What computer components should I consider at the time of purchase? How much money do I have to spend? Where should I go to purchase my computer? For this report, I will consider the requirements of a typical family: using a mini-tower PC with the Windows 95 operating system, word processing, and entry-level publishing programs; as well as, an anti-virus package, games with high-level graphics and sound, and the internet. I will also consider the following components; those essential for the computer to work faster, and more efficient. They are as follows: Central Processing U nit (CPU) – System Memory (RAM) – Storage Device(s). The following is a detailed look at the CPU, RAM, and Storage devices; the important components that you should consider when purchasing a PC. Computer systems, particularly the higher-end models, come in several Configurations: desktop, mini tower, or tower. The configuration you chose should depend - to some extent - on the amount of expansion, (if any) you may want to plan for in the future. Most tower configurations have a greater amount of expandability than mini tower and desktop models. Also, the amount of space that you have in your home for the system should be taken into consideration. Tower configurations are usually placed on the floor; (however, not the mini tower models) whereas, desktop models are made to sit on the surface where the keyboard and monitor are located. The first consideration is the CPU. Today, the Intel Corporation is still the leading manufacturer of microprocessors. However; other chi p manufacturers, such as Cyrix and AMD, are rapidly climbing the industry ladder to compete with Intel in the CPU marketplace. Although these other microprocessors are probably just as good as an Intel, there may be some subtle differences in them that may affect their performance. The speed of the processor is very important; this is the measure of its clock rate - which indicates the number of instructions that can be processed per second.

Individual Assignment Essay

Question 2: Define the distinctions between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources in a secondary search. Primary sources are data that has not been interpreted and are the original research performed. These sources are from the source of the information. The data given from a primary source has not been translated into information by another person. Primary sources are the source of the data given. Many books of law are primary sources. A court transcript would be a primary source for an appealed case. Jane Goodall would be a primary source about chimpanzees because of here extensive first-hand research. Secondary sources have been interpreted from primary data. This textbook is an example of a secondary source because the authors gathered the information from many primary sources. They translated that data too this secondary source. Almost all research found falls into secondary sources category. Most information on the Internet has been translated from a primary source. Tertiary sources take secondary sources and interpret them. These can be guide books, timelines, and almanacs. They have condensed primary and secondary sources to create an index. Bibliographies are also an example of a tertiary source. Question 3: What problems of secondary data quality must researchers face? How can they deal with them? There are five problems of secondary data quality: Purpose, scope, authority, audience, and format. When evaluating purpose of a secondary source a research must discover why this data exist. The researcher must also evaluate if the research is relevant to his or her research. When deciding if the information meets the purpose it is trying to achieve. The research must also determine if it is biased in the way it is presented. Authority of research tells the researcher how well the author knows the subject. For instance the researcher would not go to Jane Goodall about what type of minerals found on Mars. Also the information needs to give cites to show where it got the information. Cites also need to have an authority on the subject. The data also needs show from where it originated. Scope shows the researcher the age of information, and whether or not it has been updated. It should show the amount of information available on subject. The data should also show whether it narrows the subject or encompasses the subject totally. It should also show why information was included. The scope should also be similar to other sources. Audience shows that the information was intended. Also what experience a researcher reading the source is assumed to have. Format shows the research how easy the information was to find. The ease with which the researcher can locate relevant information for his or her research question. Also the information needs to be easily translated into useable information. Chapter 7 Discussion Questions 1, 2, and 5 Question 1: How does qualitative research differ from quantitative research? Quantitative research needs a large number of participants. This information can only be objective and measured statistically. Quantitative research is only about the numbers, data that can be measured. This data can be calculated by mathematics, to determine the needs of a larger population. Qualitative research is translating data from observing, analyzing, and interpreting data from what people say or do. The researchers can analyze a small test group of people and determine why they like the red widget better than the blue one. This research is very subjective compared to quantitative research. Qualitative tries to find the meaning behind the outcome of a decision. Question 2: How do data from qualitative research differ from quantitative research? Quantitative research data consists of number and statistics. These are hard facts with a large number of participants. This data can be measured either by counting or fitting numerical data in an equation. This data will show exactly what occurred. The red widgets out sold the blue widgets 20 to one. The data will always be measurable, and is a strait forward method of research. It gives direct answers that are easy to interpret. Qualitative research is not measurable. This is how a consumer believes about a product. The consumer may feel that the color red makes the widget look better than the color blue. There is no measurement for this type of research. Finding out what makes the red widget more pleasing to consumers is the driving force for qualitative research. This type of data is not strait forward and involves a large amount of interpretation from the researcher. Experts are needed to translate the data. Question 5: Assume you are a manufacturer of small kitchen electrics, like Hamilton Beach/Proctor Silex, and you want to determine if some innovative designs with unusual shapes and colors developed for European market could be successfully marketed in the U. S. Market. What qualitative research would you recommend, and why? I would recommend a group interview because I would want to find a group consensus for these European products. The group will give me a wider variety of praise or concern for these products. They could also give feedback about what they like and dislike about the products. The company could also find a group of people most likely to buy these products. The company could get a feeling of how the test market would feel about these products. Also the company would want to find a non-bias interviewer, so they can get the most accurate data possible. The company can take these small group interviews and analyze the data collected to make a decision on whether or not to continue with the plan to introduce these products to the U. S. market. By interviewing participants from the products test market the company can a feel for how their product will be received.

Efe Matrix

External Audit The external audit is an effective way for Ford to locate areas that their company can improve. These areas are called opportunities and threats. In order to create an external audit, Ford will need to look at several key external forces that play an important role in the company’s future. Ford will need to look for forces that include: Economic Forces, Social, Cultural, and Demographic Forces, Political, Governmental, and Legal Forces, Technological Forces, and Competitive Forces.Once these forces have been located, they will be placed into a category of opportunity, which will help the Ford, or it will be placed in the Threats category, which can hurt Ford. Opportunities Companies should always capitalize on opportunities because they are the forces that will help the company obtain more revenue, or increase their industry market share. Opportunities are the positive external forces that Ford will need to develop strategies in order to continue the companyâ₠¬â„¢s success. Below are the opportunities Ford needs to capitalize. Refusing Bailout MoneyWhen the economy took a down turn many companies started having cash flow problems. Several automakers like General Motors and Chrystal, took bailout money in 2008 from the United States government in order to keep their company from financial ruin. These companies took 24. 9 billion dollars in bailout money. Ford was the only American automaker that did not take money from the government in order to combat the worst sales downturn in recent years. Industry Shifts towards Hybrids and Small Vehicles With gas prices sky rocketing, consumers are looking for more fuel efficient vehicles and cars the run on electric instead of fuel.Ford has heard consumer concerns and has been improving their cars fuel efficiency. Ford now has several hybrid cars, like the Fusion, and SUVs. Along with smaller more fuel efficient cars like the Focus with 28 MPG in the city and 20 MPG on the highway. Toyota’s 4. 4 Billion Dollar Loss One of Ford biggest competitors Toyota seemed unstoppable until the company began having major issues with one of their most popular cars the Prius. The problems with the Prius and the economic downturn caused Toyota to reported their first every net loss of 4. 4 billion dollars in 2009.Toyota also warned that might fall deeper into debt in 2010. Ford and BP Join Forces to Produce Hydrogen In 2004, BP and Ford joined forces to try and bring the United States closer to having a hydrogen economy. In order to accomplish this task Ford will be building 30 hydrogen-powered Focus Fuel-Cell Vehicles. The vehicles will be split between three cities, and BP will be building hydrogen fueling centers to help evaluate the cars each time they refuel. Ford and BP continue working to improve this technology. There is talk of having hydrogen cars available to consumers in three years. 010 Fusion Sets Records for the 5th Month Ford’s Fusion car has been their top sell ing vehicle since its introduction in 2006. The Fusion continues to improve with options of the hybrid model. The vehicle has received awards like the Most Reliable Family Car –from independent reliability and owner satisfaction survey data, Most Dependable Midsize Car – J. D. Power and Associates, Motor Trend’s 2010 Car of the Year – a highly coveted industry accolade, and the 2010 North American Car of the Year – awarded by a jury of top automotive journalists.Sales of the Fusion continue to be on the rise. Sales have risen to 219,219 for an 11. 9 percent share of the industry, giving Ford an increase in sales of 54 percent in 2010, while Toyota Camry has a 27 percent decline in sales and Honda Accord sales dropped 20 percent. Threats Threats are the negative external forces which could hurt the company. Companies will always need to minimize threats as they are the forces that will hinder a company’s goals and could hurt the companyâ€⠄¢s bottom line. Below are the threats that Ford will need to minimize. Economic CrisisIn 2008 the economy starting having issues because of rising oil prices and unemployment, increased unemployment, a decline in dollar value, global inflation, a horrible housing market, and terrible mortgage crisis. Many companies started to have cash flow problem. Many companies like Ford had to close several manufacturing plants, laying off thousands of individuals, which hinders the improvement of the economy. Consumer Confidence is Low Recent car accidents have led to low consumer confidence in the auto industry. These accidents have caused the lowest consumer confidence in 40 years.The entire auto industry needs to be concerned with consumer confidence since this will hurt their profits. Rising Gas Prices With gas prices are on the rise, people are looking for ways to save their money. Since 2000 gas prices have gone from 1. 51 to 3. 85 with no end in sight. Consumers are every concerned that all their money is going to fuel up their vehicles. The United States government has stepped in to require the auto industry to improve their vehicles miles per gallon. Foreign Automakers Market Shares are high In the past most foreign cars have my luxury vehicles created by Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus.Recently Toyota, Nissan, and Honda have been able to take a larger share of the industry by creating practical and affordable vehicles. Toyota has the held the second spot in the auto industry for 2008 and 2009. Honda held the fourth spot from 2008 through 2010. Both companies are tough competition for U. S. automakers. Ford has been in tough competition with Toyota for the second share of the industry. Competitor with Luxury Hybrid Hybrids have become very popular in the last couple of years since the price of oil has skyrocketed.Recently companies that specialized in more luxurious car models have been coming out with a luxury hybrid. U. S. News has ranked the best luxury hybrids with Mercedes, BMW, and Porsche taking all the top spots. EFE Matrix The external factor evaluation matrix helps companies, like Ford, to understand and evaluate their external opportunities and threats from nine different categories. The categories include: economic, social, cultural, demographic, environmental, political, governmental, legal, technological, and competitive information.If a firm has taken advantage of all opportunities and minimized all threats, then the company current strategy would be working as they had hoped. However this is not always the case. The EFE Matrix is a great way for companies to evaluate how their strategy is working for external opportunities and threats and to make improvements when necessary. To create an EFE Matrix a company must find the key factors, opportunities and threats, that will show what the company has encountered. First the company will need to find the key opportunities and then the threats.Next, companies will need to decide how to w eigh each of the key factors. All of the key factor weights must add up to 1. Then the key factors will need to have a rating of 1 to 4. Rating indicates how well strategies are working. A rating of 1 indicates a poor performance, while a rating of 4 indicates a superior performance. After figuring out the weight and rating, companies need to multiply the weight by the rating to find the weighted score. Once that step is complete, add all the weighted scores together and find the total weighted score also known as â€Å"the magic number†.The highest magic number possible is 4 with the lowest being a 1. Ford Motor Company’s EFE Matrix is shown below. EFE Matrix for Ford Motor Company OpportunitiesWeightRatingWeighted Score Refusing bailout money5%30. 15 Industry shifts toward hybrids and small vehicles2%10. 02 Toyota 4. 4 billion dollar loss20%40. 8 Ford and BP joint forces to produce hydrogen power4%20. 08 2010 Fusion set records for 5th Month1%10. 01 Threats Economic Crisis30%41. 2 Consumer confidence is low5%30. 15 Rising Gas Prices30%41. 2 Foreign automakers market shares are high2%10. 02Competitor with first luxury hybrid 1%10. 01 (1) Poor, (2) Average, (3) Above Average, (4) Superior Total Weighted Score100%3. 64 Ford’s EFE Matrix total weighted score is a 3. 64. Meaning the Ford’s strategy is helping them take the majority of opportunities presented to them, while doing a great job of dealing with threats. One of the opportunities taken by Ford was Toyota losing billions of dollars during their Prius difficulty. Ford also did a smart thing by not taking any bailout money from the government. Most customers appreciated this move, meaning Ford was able to capitalize on this opportunity.However to improve their magic number Ford will need to readdress their strategy related to industry shifts and continue to have their vehicles set records. When looking at Fords threats, Ford has had a good strategy for dealing with the economic crisis by cutting costs, which meant closing several manufacturing plants. This was not a popular decision but it needed to be done for Ford to survive the economic downturn. One of the ways to show that Ford dealt with the economic crisis well is their refusal to take bailout money. Ford faced another challenge head on with rising gas prices.When gas prices started to rise Ford started creating more fuel efficient cars like the Ford Focus and Fiesta, and began working on improving the gas mileage in their truck line. Ford also began putting smart technology in their vehicles. However, several threats still need to be addressed by Ford. Ford needs to be concerned with foreign automakers like Kia and Hyundai taking more and more of the market shares. Ford also needs to combine fuel efficiency with luxury to compete with their competition. Overall EFE Matrix shows Ford’s Strategy is working and only needs to consider a few changes.